National news in brief, 8/7

FORT MEADE — A military judge has reduced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning’s maximum possible sentence in the WikiLeaks case to 90 years in prison.

Manning had faced up to 136 years in prison after he was convicted of charges related to his disclosure of classified information to the anti-secrecy website. But the judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, found during his sentencing hearing Tuesday that a number of the charges refer to the same actions and therefore were duplicative for sentencing purposes.

Manning was convicted at his court-martial of 20 counts. His defense attorneys had argued that some of the counts amounted to multiple convictions for a single act.

Testimony during Manning’s sentencing hearing was to continue.

Massachusetts

Jury takes case of reputed crime boss

BOSTON — Jurors began their deliberations Tuesday in the trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, the reputed crime boss who is accused of participating in 19 murders during a two-decade reign over Boston’s underworld.

Bulger is charged with orchestrating or committing the killings during the 1970s and ’80s while he allegedly led the notorious Winter Hill Gang, a crew of mostly Irish-American gangsters.

Bulger was one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives after he fled Boston in 1994 ahead of an indictment. During his 16 years on the run, his secret relationship with the FBI as an informant was revealed, embarrassing the FBI and exposing corruption within the bureau. Bulger, now 83, was finally captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

In a 32-count racketeering indictment, Bulger is accused of being a hands-on boss who killed anyone he saw as a potential rival or danger to the gang. He is accused of shooting or strangling some of the victims himself. In other cases, he allegedly ordered the slayings, or participated in some other way.

He is also accused of making millions by extorting drug dealers, bookmakers and legitimate businessmen by threatening to hurt or kill them or their families.

Pennsylvania

Boy, 2, dies after serving as best man

PITTSBURGH — A terminally ill 2-year-old western Pennsylvania boy who served as his parents’ best man at their wedding last weekend has died, according to his mother’s Facebook page and a family friend.

Christine Swidorsky Stevenson’s Facebook post said little Logan Stevenson died Monday night in her arms at the home she shared with the boy’s father, her new husband, Sean Stevenson. The couple live in Jeannette, about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh, and were wed Saturday at a ceremony at their home.

The boy, who had leukemia and other complications, was dressed in a tan pinstripe suit and orange shirt for the wedding. His mother carried him on her shoulder, before he stood and was held by his grandmother, Debbie Stevenson, to witness the 12-minute ceremony.

A family spokeswoman, Sylvia Johnson, of Youngwood, confirmed Logan’s death Tuesday.